Recap and Update

I fault myself for not continuing to document my travels through Sweden and Poland, but new trips are coming up and I need to make sure everything is current.

To recap Sweden and Poland:

• Sweden is a very clean, friendly, expensive country. Avicii concert in Malmo was a high point.
• Poland was fantastic, the biggest surprise of the trip. Warsaw had great food and Krakow had incredible nightlife. Lost a few years of my life there.

In 2 weeks I'll be traveling through Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, and UAE. I will hopefully be more diligent about keeping this blog current.

Copenhagen

May 12, 2012, 9:55pm, First Hotel Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

Our time in Copenhagen has been short but productive.  Jake, Usman, Justin, and I flew in early yesterday morning, after an 8 hour flight in which we finished a bottle of Jameson from Duty-Free.  We arrived at our hotel around 8:30am and decided we needed to continue our binge, at least until our room was ready.  We somehow obtained a free bottle of wine for signing up for the hotel’s email list, and relaxed in the lounge. 

Our room is pretty awesome, a corner roon with floor to ceiling windows and a couple flat screen tvs.  The down side is that the bathroom is ALSO floor to ceiling glass with limited frost, which means that showering and pooping have become a public affair.  After we cleaned up we decided to hit the town.  We spent a good 30 minutes walking in circles, trying to find the proper bus stop.  

We were finally successful, and headed into town. We stopped near Tivoli Park and decided to walk the rest of the way to Justin’s hostel, who wasn’t staying with us.  We got to see a bit of the city and Usman and Jake enjoyed a brief conversation with some Finnish girls looking for a lighter. 

We made it to Dan Hostel, which was a massive building (maybe 20 floors) with a bar/lounge in the lobby. Very busy, lots of people.  Jake, Usman and I sat down and had some beers as we waited for Justin to get checked in and settled.  As we waited, we had an old Danish ship captain come sit down and start talking to us.  His name was Robin, and he worked primarily out of Tanzania.  While he seemed quite nice (buying beers etc.) it was clear that he was looking for some companionship for dinner.  We decided this would be harmless, which retrospectively was a bad decision. 

We walked around with Robin until we found a nice steak restaurant, which we were all craving.  We sat down and realized how expensive the place was, which limited our choices. Regardless, we placed our order and got some wine.  At this point we started to realize that Robin was getting a little drunk, which initially was pretty hilarious as he kept trying to touch Jake’s leg “accidentally”. 

After we got the second bottle of wine it was abundantly clear that Robin was hammered.  He started spilling, taking food from other peoples’ plates, and other shenanigans that were becoming annoying.  After the second bottle was gone, Robin promptly got up, put on his jacked, and said he would see us later; clearly trying to duck out on the bill.  We stopped him and reminded him that he hadn’t paid, which resulted in a half hour ordeal involving the waiter, and an attempt to tell the waiter to put his meal on Jake’s credit card.

After finally getting him to pay, we parted ways and headed to another bar.  We had a quick drink at an Irish Pub before heading to Rosie McGee’s, a popular bar downtown.  We spent a few hours here before heading out in search of greener pastures.  We found an upscale bar/lounge and went inside to get some shots.  At this bar we met Simon, a Danish kid in his 20’s who knew the area well and became our tour guide.  After asking Jake and Usman their choice in women (High class or Detroit?) we decided to head to the “Detroit” bar called Heidi’s Bierbar.  On the way, Simon stopped into a 7-11 and came out with a bottle filled with dark colored liquid called “Fish”.  This obviously made us a little nervous, which was well founded. The bottle tasted like Jagermeister mixed with Goldschlagger and was incredibly vile.  

This put a few of us over the edge from drunk to stumbling drunk.  Nonetheless, we arrived at the bar at which time Usman tripped over the rope barrier into the security guard.  Needless to say it was difficult to convince the bouncer that we were ok to go in.  After we were inside, Simon was trying his hardest to introduce Jake and Usman to women who could not understand a word either one of them were saying due to the level of intoxication.  The gents decided it was time to go at which point we went outside and found a cab.  The girls getting out of the cab gave us a half bag of chips, which raised our spirits significantly.  As I was trying to get us home, I hear Jake yell from the back seat “Are we going to (expletive) Virginia?” at which point I reminded him we were in Copenhagen. 

We returned home and went to bed, except for Usman who spent an hour getting a pizza delivered. He did not make any friends at the concierge desk. While Usman was down stairs, Jake was passed out on the couch and I was checking facebook with our stereo blasting.  All of the sudden two Scandinavian guys walk in the door looking very scared and confused.  I asked them what they wanted and they asked if we minded turning the music down. I obliged and went to bed.

We woke up the next morning in a haze, got dressed and took off the the Carlsberg brewery.  I had eaten some bad leftover pizza and was feeling pretty awful, which lead to me departing after our tour to come home and lay down.  The gents returned a few hours later and watched TV/napped, watching Danish “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” and “The Mummy 2”.  We’re now freshening up and trying to find a bar that will play the NHL Playoffs.

Marrakech > Casablanca (by a long shot)

March 22, 2012, 12:10pm, McDonalds, Marrakech, Morocco

Marrakech is worlds away from Casablanca. After finding wifi at the hotel in Casa, I went to a small local restaurant and had beef tanjin, which was quite delicious. I strolled around the city a bit before heading back to the hotel to get some sleep. I woke up the next morning, found a pizza place that was open, and bought some new sunglasses for $3 and a half pack of cigarettes.

Finally found a cab and made it to the train station. 1^st class tickets were only $14 so I decided to splurge. I took some pictures while waiting for the train, then jumped on and attempted to find some indication of where my seat was. I found an empty cabin, grabbed my Jack Daniels, and threw on some 30 Rock. About halfway through the 4 hour journey the ticket taker came by and informed me that I was, in fact, sitting in last class and that 1^st class was on the entire opposite side of the train. At this point I was too comfortable to care, so I thanked him and poured another glass of whiskey. I felt extremely excited as I arrived at the Marrakech train station.

The city looked alive, green, and modern. I found a McDonalds and downed a Big Mac before finding a cab and heading to the old city. The taxi driver charged me $10, which I later found out was a gross rip off. We pulled up to the walls of the old city and the cabbie stopped and waved over a friend with a hand cart. I tried to explain that I did not need anyone to carry my bags, to no avail. The elderly gentlemen took me through the streets of old Marrakech until we finally found my hostel, at which point he clearly was expecting something for his troubles. I gave him what I had (the equivalent of $2) and went inside. He subsequently knocked on the door and started yelling in Arabic, clearly not satisfied with the tip I had given.

I got settled into my room and met my new roommates, four mid-twenties girls from England, some of whom currently live in Valencia, Spain. They were on their last leg of the trip but would be around for one more night, so they took me under their wing and showed me the town. We had an amazing dinner of avocado salad and tanjin with orangina. After that we went back to the hostel and smoked shisha on the rooftop terrace while discussing American and European politics and drinking mint tea. I hit the hay around midnight and slept for a good 10 hours.

The next day everyone had left except for Sam. She and I decided to go explore the city some more, as we both had some shopping to do. We ended up getting persuaded by a local to go visit the tannery where they make leather goods from cow, sheep, and goat skin. He kept saying “no money, no money” which we knew would not be true. We first visited the Berber tannery which makes exclusively cow skin products. The process was quite intensive, 3 months and numerous stations in waters, bleaches, lime, and “peegon sheet” (pigeon shit). We were given mint leaves at the beginning of the tour to help mask the smell.

After the Berber tannery we visited the Arab tannery, specializing in goat and sheep skin. The same guide led us around and then showed us the show room, where his friend displayed numerous goods of which neither of us had any use for. After we stepped out of the shop, our friend the guide was there waiting for us. He gave us some haphazard directions before demanding “Now you pay me for tour”. We explained that his friend who had brought us said there was no money involved, which clearly irritated him. He wanted 200 dirham (about $20) for the tour, which was more than the cost of my hostel. I rebuffed him, explaining that I was a student and was broke. He then gave me the “special student price” of 150 dirham. I pulled out the 15 dirham I had and told him to take it or leave it. He explained that this amount “was for children” to which I shrugged my shoulders. (He eventually took the 15 dirham).

After this we realized we were in a non-tourist area of the city and were completely lost. We stumbled upon a younger Moroccan kid who spoke pretty good English and worked in a spice shop (he actually saved us from an extremely drunk homeless guy). He gave us a tour of the Jewish quarter before showing us his spice shop. His boss gave us a long demo of tons of products, including mixed herbal tea, and told us to add him on facebook. For his generosity and help, I gave him a premium on the presents I bought from him for Lara.

We finally made it back to the square and headed back to the hostel. I cleaned up and called Lara before we headed out to dinner at one of the local café’s for more tajin. We headed back early and had tea and shisha with our new British friends Mike and Deb before calling it a night.

The next day (Wednesday) I decided to relax and try to get a tan, which I succeeded at stunningly. The girls went to get massages and I sat on the terrace drinking whiskey, tanning, and reading. After three hours I was a bit drunk and extremely burned, so I decided to hang out inside until everyone returned. We all hung out drinking whiskey and wine on the terrace until 6pm when Sam had to leave for her flight. Mike, Deb, and I then went to grab dinner and said our goodbyes. I came back, cleaned up, and headed to sleep.

Woke up this morning to the sound of my German roommates whispering and jumped in the shower. Paid my bill, took my final swig of whiskey (can’t waste good whiskey), and headed to the square to find a cab. I am burned to a crisp so carrying a backpack is quite painful. I paid half of what I paid for a cab last time and felt somewhat victorious. Bought my ticket and snagged another Big Mac at the McDonalds. Currently watching soccer on TV while a massive protest is going on outside. About to head to my track and head back to Casablanca for my final night in Morocco.

Should have stayed in Egypt

March 18, 2012,4:45pm Hotel Volubilis, Casablanca, Morocco

The last few days have been a blur. On Wednesday the class went to the American University in Cairo for a full day of lectures. The campus was beautiful, over 200 acres outside of Cairo. Unfortunately I left my glasses in one of the classrooms, but it was worth the experience.

On Thursday we visited our client and finished up our interviews. The team took us to lunch at Taboula, a Lebanese restaurant, where we again had way too much food. Even though the restaurant was only a few blocks from the office, they insisted on taking cars there and back. When we got on the bus, the traffic was so bad that it took us 45 minutes just to get back to where we ate lunch. The total trip home was over 2 hours for about a mile drive. Thursday night we had dinner at a restaurant called Sequoia right on the Nile. It was still a bit cold, but the food, drinks, and shisha were fantastic. We took cabs home and returned around midnight.

Friday was all tourist visits in the morning and afternoon. We started at the pyramids with pictures and camel rides (where a local tried to charge me 5 pounds after he jumped in my picture) then went on to the Sphinx. We got back on the bus and stopped for falafel and shwarma for lunch. We went to the Citadel and Copic Cairo before heading back to the hotel to work on our presentations. I was up until 1am Friday night working on our presentation , after a night of lobster ravioli and powerpoint presentations in the lobby.

Our group woke up at 6:45am to finish work on our presentation before we had to leave for Cairo University. We wrapped everything up and jumped on the bus. Our group went first, and did a pretty good job (although we went a bit over time). We watched the rest of the presentations while sitting on the hard wood benches and eating some type of roast beef (I think?) sandwiches. We returned to the hotel and I was able to sneak in a nap before the reception started at 7pm. The reception was a great way to end the course, a very celebratory event. Our professor informed us that we were getting ‘A’s in the course and that he was looking forward to our case studies. I said goodbye to my clients and classmates before heading upstairs to pack and get some solid sleep.

Sunday morning came way too early. I got in a cab with two classmates and headed to the airport. Arrived with barely enough time to swing by the duty free before jumping on my flight to Casablanca. Got a bit of sleep on the flight after I had lunch (the chicken meal on EgyptAir isn’t half bad). I got through customs and baggage claim just in time to see some type of national celebrity come off his plane, with tons of tv cameras and screaming fans everywhere. I ran to the train station and jumped on the 2pm train to Casablanca City Center. Enjoyed the countryside on the ride in. Found a cab and found my hotel. The free wifi that was advertised is apparently in the next building over, and my room is quite small and cold with little insulation and a broken heater, but it’s only for a night. The “bellman” that showed me my room continuously tried to get me to tip him more than the total of my train and cab ride combined. The general feeling here is very different from Cairo.

Casablanca is a pretty depressing city from what I’ve seen so far; grey, rundown, and desolate. It’s very difficult to find anyone that has even a tenuous grasp of the English language which makes getting around town and figuring out schedules difficult.

As for now, I’m making the best of the situation. Enjoying my duty free Jack Daniels while watching ‘US Marshalls’ on the 5” tv, headed to find food and wifi soon.

Egyptian Birthdays: In Egypt there is no 1-for-1

March 14, 2012, 2:30pm, American University in Cairo, Cairo, Egypt

Yesterday was a blast, one of the most fun birthdays ever, mainly because we were busy the entire time. I was incredibly hungover and had only gotten 4 hours of sleep, but had to be on my ‘A’ game for our first meeting with the Egyptian Businessmen Association. Our Professor asked me to be the cameraman, which I decided to have a bit of fun with. The meeting was interesting, it seems like a lot of businesses in Egypt want to implement CSR initiatives but with the current financial situation have to focus on just staying afloat.

We were running late to our next meeting so we had an improvised lunch at KFC. The chicken there was actually just as good if not better than the KFC in the states. Full and covered with grease, we headed to the Cairo Stock Exchange. The exchange is much smaller than the NYSE, but is growing. The trading room is quite small and is only open from 10:30am – 2:30pm, five days a week. I asked if they were accepting applications. We then headed back to the hotel to get cleaned up for Khan el-Khalili.

The drive to the souk was not too bad, we were all a bit tired from the day. As we drove by the shops you could see the eyes of the store owners light up when they saw a bus full of white people, clearly ready to spend money. Our tour guide Ishmael took us on a brief tour of Islamic architecture in the area and then we headed to dinner.

Dinner was incredible, tables full of every type of Egyptian dish one could imagine. We stuffed ourselves silly. I was trying to calculate how much weight I had gained when I started hearing a small band start playing happy birthday.

I have never in my life been sung happy birthday more times (and in more languages) than last night. I believe the total was five times. I gave a brief speech about how much I disliked everyone and then we headed out to the shops.

Sam is a master negotiator and was a great help to me. I was looking for a necklace, Egyptian flags, and a couple of shirts. After continuous harassment, we eventually found a guy who had the flags and shirts. We picked out what we wanted and the haggling began. He quoted us the “special egyptian price” of 450 egyptian pounds. I had no idea what any of this was worth and let Sam take over. Over the course of 15 minutes, and after what sounded like a heated argument, the store owner came and found us in a different store, bag in hand. He said he agreed to our price of 100 pounds and asked for the money. Sam agreed and started looking in the bag, which visibly irritated the shop owner. As it turns out, the owner took out one of the flags and was trying to pull a fast one. He quickly mentioned how he “forgot” it and ran back to the store to grab another flag. We paid him and headed to the bus. I pulled out my wallet to pay Sam for the souvenirs, but he refused, saying “I have been trying to get you a birthday present all day but you have been with me”.

I kept trying to pay him, telling him I would get him back one way or another, to which he angrily said “In Egypt, there is no 1 for 1”.

We returned to the hotel around 11:45pm and got a group together to head out to a local upscale lounge for drinks. The lounge was hidden in a run-down building on the second floor. As us seven white kids and one Egyptian showed up, there was a look of confusion and unpleasantness on the face of the doorman. After a conversation, they let us inside. We went to sit down at a table, at which time we were told that this bar, full of people, was now in fact closed. We were looking around confused as to why the bar had just closed right then, and apparently only for us. We decided to not cause an international incident and walked down the road to our go-to bar, Deals.

We hung out there for a few hours having drinks, taking shots, and discussing politics and religion. I had a great conversation with one of my Muslim classmates who married a Catholic Puerto Rican girl. We had a great discussion about interfaith relationships, standards, and families. He gave me some great advice, then we closed our tabs and walked home. (One of our friends had a discrepancy about the bill, which ended up getting us a couple free shots that we gladly consumed). I got to bed around 3:00am, knowing full well that the next morning was coming way too soon.

Getting to Work and Tahrir Square

March 13, 2012, 6:15pm, Marriott Zamalek, Cairo, Egypt

I am in love with this city. Cairo has been an incredible experience thus far, even though it’s only been a little more than a few days. I arrived Saturday afternoon, settled in, and met with Renee and Allison at the outdoors restaurant for a snack and a cocktail (the Long Island Ice Teas are pretty coke heavy). We hung out and chatted with some classmates as they arrived, then I went back to the room to nap.

I woke up around dinner time (9pm) and headed down to the lobby to meet with the rest of the group. We went to Abu Saaid (Lara I know you’ll correct the spelling) which is one of the nicest restaurants in Zemalek. We had a ton of traditional Egyptian food and enjoyed the old style Cairo motif.

Sunday was a very full day. We started at the ECRC in Mohandeseen and met with the organization that helped set up the course. We had lunch and then met with our client to learn more about their needs and challenges regarding CSR in Egypt. We’re working with a regional bank that has experienced slowed growth since the revolution and is looking to find creative ways to have CSR create value.

Monday was a fascinating day. We went to see the zebellin who gather and sort the trash in Cairo, and live in the hills around the city in an area called Mokattam. Their town is run down and covered with trash, and the people are extremely poor and uneducated. The school we visited is in the middle of the village, and is a joint effort between Proctor & Gamble and other local NGOs. There is a large problem in counterfeit shampoo in Egypt, so P&G found a way to abate this while making a social impact. The school they help fund trains boys to buy used P&G bottles from the sorters and bring them back to be shredded. They are paid 100% profit on what they bring in, which gives them an incentive to come to the school. They also learn basic reading/writing/arithmetic/computer skills which train them for secondary school after they reach a certain point. The kids were very nice and seemed very happy, their choir sang a few songs for us then we all took some pictures together.

We then returned to the hotel and got some work done on our case study, and had planned to meet with the group later at the Cairo Museum by Tahrir Square. Samer had his car and offered to take us on a tour of Tahrir and to eat some Koshari at one of Lara’s favorite places. We prepared ourselves and hopped in the car.

The square was incredibly alive. If you didn’t know where you were, you would assume it was the same as any other square in any other city. Businesses were open, people littered the sidewalks, and traffic was busy. We got less strange looks in Tahrir than we did in Zamalek, which was strangely calming. The street art there was incredible, some of the most beautiful and haunting pictures I have ever seen. It’s difficult to not feel a swell of optimism in your chest as you look around the square. The feeling is indescribable. We made it to Koshari Tahrir and had a massive bowl. Sam helped us with the hot sauce and garlic sauce to make a perfect mixture. From there, we headed to the museum, still reeling from the experience of the square.

After the museum, night had fallen. We decided to ride back with Sam, which meant walking back through Tahrir. The square at night was not much different than in the day. Protesters were still camped out in the middle circle but were peaceful and would smile when they saw us. Some looked confused, as to why a white guy was walking around this place that was clearly not for foreigners. The oddest part of this experience was the clear lack of any police/military throughout the square. Civilians were actually directing traffic.

After we returned home, a few of us decided to head down to the casino to grab some drinks and lose some money until midnight, to celebrate my birthday. I won money on slots, then lost it all on roulette, then broke even on the slots again and called it a night. From there, most people went back to their rooms. Casey and I decided to continue the party and go to Harry’s Pub, where there was a reggae band playing and people dancing. We had some drinks, a few shots, and made it to bed by 4:00am.

I’m feeling the repercussions of that today.

Last night in Istanbul

March 10, 2012 11:30am, Ataturk Airport, Istanbul

Slowly recovering after a night of Rika, whiskey, and 4 hours of sleep. Had a great time last night at a small hotel bar about 10 minutes from where we were staying. Got Renee to chug some whiskey with me before heading out, which I’m sure she’s regretting at this point.

The bar was small and filled with antique furniture. Hundreds of different styles of colored lamps hung from the ceiling giving the bar a very cool vibe. Had some cold mezza and tried Rika, which tastes like absolute licorice flavored hell. Cloudy white drink with a hell of a bite, don’t know how the Turks drink it. Closed the bar down around 1:00am and stumbled back home.

I forgot to mention earlier, but this city is covered with stray cats. The odd thing is that they’re not skinny or malnutritioned, they look like they eat pretty well. The entire city is quite reminiscent of the Hemmingway house in Key West, and I was drunkenly petting kitties all the way home.

Got home and passed out only to wake up 4 hours later in a haze. Ate a quick breakfast, hopped in a cab, and headed to the airport. Next stop, Cairo.